Recent media interest has raised concern over the safety of mobile phones, which in turn has led to questions on the safety of cordless phones used in the home. Cordless phones operate in a similar way to mobile phones, by using radio signals to communicate between the handset and a 'base station'. However, cordless phones emit a small fraction of the power of a mobile phone. In the home the base station is usually the hand set cradle that acts also as a charger unit and is not normally more than a few tens of metres away. Mobile phone base stations are radio masts, which can be located tens of kilometres away.
Radio signals from modern cordless phones operate in a similar way to mobile phones and a proportion of the energy in the signals radiated by cordless phone handsets will be absorbed in the head of the user. However, shorter communication distances involved with cordless telephony mean that power radiated by the handsets is typically 10 milliwatts, whereas mobile phones operating around the same frequency of 1800 MHz can use a maximum of 125 milliwatts.
Exposure guidelines for radiofrequency radiation, including frequencies used by mobile and cordless phones are based on comprehensive reviews of epidemiological (human health) evidence and biological studies. Compliance with the guidelines will ensure the avoidance of established, known health effects due to the excessive heating of tissues. Exposure to radio signals from cordless telephones is many times below the guidelines and therefore their use is not considered hazardous to health.
July 1999
Last updated 23rd July 1999